start

name	start
description	Session start protocol — workflow gates, pending work, status report

Session start skill. Run the full workflow checklist and produce a status report. This is the "what's pending" dashboard.

Steps

1. Codebase review gate (the ONLY gate)

Count session headers (## S) in the active checkpoint. Check date of last codebase review in docs/reviews/codebase/.

A review is DUE if:

• ≥ 12 sessions since last codebase review, OR

• 2 weeks since last codebase review

When due: must run before new feature work. Bug fixes and deploy fixes are exempt. This is enforced, not advisory.

2. Find active checkpoint

Find the checkpoint with status: active in docs/checkpoints/. Report:

• CP number and how many sessions it has (count ## S headers)
• Line count — warn if approaching 200 (time to rotate)
• Pending items listed at bottom of checkpoint

3. Read todo.md

Read docs/todo.md for the full backlog. Categorize by priority tier.

4. Check git + docker state

git status
git log --oneline -5
docker compose ps

Note any uncommitted changes, unpushed commits, active worktrees, and whether the grappa container is running.

5. Quick environment sanity

scripts/healthcheck.sh    # only if container is running

If the container is up but /healthz fails, that's an immediate red flag — surface it before anything else.

6. Produce the report

Format:

🔬 **Codebase Review**: not due (n sessions, last YYYY-MM-DD) / DUE — must run before features
📍 **Active Checkpoint**: CPnn (n sessions, ~nnn lines)
🌿 **Git State**: clean / uncommitted changes / unpushed commits (count)
🐳 **Container**: running (healthz ok) / running (healthz FAIL) / stopped / never built

## Pending (from checkpoint)
- item 1
- item 2

## Todo Highlights
**Immediate**: ...
**High**: ...
**Medium**: ...
**Observation**: ...

## What's Available
Given the gate status, here's what we can work on: ...

The "What's Available" section is the key output. If a codebase review is due, say so and offer to run it. Otherwise, list the priority work from todo + checkpoint pending.

7. Phase awareness

Surface the current Phase from README.md "Phases" section. If we're mid-Phase, mention which Task in the relevant plan we're at based on the last commit + the test/code state. Don't just pull from todo — read the actual code.